Topics: Starter | Arithmetic | Negative Numbers

• 8 set 2, Verdin High School Cheshire
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• Level 1 is too easy for some classes and yet level 2 is too difficult. There needs to be an easier level 2.
• Transum,
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• Dear 8 set 2. Thanks very much for your feedback. On your suggestion the three level scale has now been changed to five levels. The new levels 2 and 3 fit between the old levels 1 and 2 in terms of difficulty.
  Having said that, the grids are generated by random numbers so there is a chance that a grid comprising of larger numbers is actually easier to solve. Refreshing the page will repopulate the grid with different numbers at the same level.
  The numbers at the heads of the rows and columns are randomly generated so that they are:
  Level 1: Up to 10
  Level 2: Up to 20
  Level 3: Up to 50
  Level 4: Up to 100
  Level 5: Up to 1000
• Margaret,
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• How do I change the levels?
• Transum,
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• Click on the links underneath the answers below for those who have a Transum subscription.
• Miss Reakes, The English College Dubai
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• This is a fantastic starter as it works their brains at the start of the lesson while I take the register! I've used it a great deal with classes of varying abilities. They ring the values they fill in and I record their scores. We monitor it over a few lessons to see if they have improved or maintained a good accuracy and award house points
• Mr Long, Saint John Houghton School
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• My Year 11 class spotted a pattern. the top left hand square is ALWAYS x
• Sue, Plymouth
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• How about one extra level to have numbers from -12 to 12?
• Mr Fox, Holmes Chapel Comprehensive
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• I agree, a negative numbers grid would be brilliant!
• Transum,
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• Thanks for your suggestion Sue and Mr Fox. There is now the option to include negative numbers as can be seen below.
• MAP, MAP
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• Like using this starter but really wish there was a 1.5 version with 5-12 times tables only. The jump to 20 is too much for my classes.
  Please?
  
  [Transum: Especially for you MAP, here is the link you wanted: Level 1.5.]
• MAP, MAP
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• Just noticed a reply to my comment from last year!
  Thanks for this, to make it perfect though, could we have a negative/positive version of the 1.5?
  Thankyou again.
  
  [Transum: Once again, especially for you MAP, here is the link you wanted: Level 1.5 Negatives.]
• Transum,
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• Teachers, as well as writing on your projected image of this starter with a whiteboard pen you can also type numbers into the empty cells to either record what your class has deduced or by giving additional starting numbers to help those struggling with this starter.
• Ms Busby, Thorpe St Andrew
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• Any chance something could happen to indicate when students have the right answer? They are working on their own devices and would enjoy some celebratory graphics :-).
  
  [Transum: Thanks for your suggestion Ms Busby. This page is designed for the teacher to project onto a large whiteboard and for pupils to work in exercise books or computers. The functionality for typing in answers was intended for use by the teacher during the plenary. I think the message I'm getting is that there also needs to be a student interactive version of Multi-Toil Panic which provides feedback (and awards trophies). I'll add that request to the To Do list. Thanks]
• Maths Is Fun Set, United Kingdom
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• We found this quite hard but when we got used to doing it we loved it. It helps us learn our times tables. We are Year 4.

How did you use this starter? Can you suggest how teachers could present or develop this resource? Do you have any comments? It is always useful to receive feedback and helps make this free resource even more useful for Maths teachers anywhere in the world.
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